Polyphenols Help Promote Heart Health

High blood pressure can strike anyone, regardless of age, gender or race. It comes with no warning signs or symptoms and affects around 78 million Americans, or 1 in 3 adults, according to the American Heart Association. While it is not an age-related disease, middle-aged Americans face the highest risk (90 percent) of developing high blood pressure. Other contributors may include weight, family history of high blood pressure and/or pre-hypertension. It not only raises the risk of heart disease and stroke, which are the first and third leading causes of death in the United States, but italso raises the risk ofkidney disease and blindness.

As serious as hypertension is, the good news is that it is a modifiable condition. Treatment involves making lifestyle changes, which include regular physical activity and healthy eating. Doctors may prescribe medication but many users are concerned about the side effectsthey contain and prefer nutritional therapies. Herbal and nutritional options for condition-specific benefits are becoming more and more popular amongst consumers.Recent advances in scientific research and technology have introduced a variety of nutritional interventions for combating hypertension. Of particular consideration are polyphenolic compounds, derived from plants. These compounds have exhibited significant benefits for vascular health through multiple mechanisms which are described below:

Because of their antioxidant properties, polyphenols help enhance plasma antioxidant levels by decreasing free radical activity and their by-products. Thus they help to assuage damage to the blood vessel that could take place as a result of oxidative stress.

Polyphenols influence the activity of endothelial Nitric Oxide (eNOS) which is an enzyme that supports the production and availability of healthy nitric oxide (NO) to the endothelial lining of blood vessels.

Several studies show that the intake of polyphenols may help to reduce elevated blood pressure levels and support cardiovascular health. For supplement business owners, these studies open up a wealth of opportunities for supplement manufacturing heart-health products. You can offer your customers a wide range of nutritional supplement offerings that are specifically intended to promote healthy pressure and cardiovascular health. Only the best formulations will add credibility to your brand, so consider partnering with a nutraceutical manufacturer that is well-known in the industry and completes its manufacturing in a GMP certified facility.

What kind of polyphenols should you consider? Here are two promising ingredients based on recent research:

Green Coffee BeansGreen coffee beans contain powerful antioxidants called chlorogenic acids. A cup of coffee may contain 70 mg to 300 mg of these antioxidants. Subclasses of chlorogenic acids include caffeoylquinic acid, feruloylquinic acid, and dicaffeoylquinic acid. A review article from the Nestle Research Center in Beijing not only highlighted the mechanisms by which chlorogenic acids use to lower pressure, but also summarized a few important human trials where the end goals were achieved. In one study 40 Japanese patients who had mild hypertension were given daily a 480 mg of a green coffee extra mixed in fruit and vegetable juice, or a placebo. At the end of 12 weeks the average reductions in pressure for those given coffee extract were 10 mmHg and 7 mmHg, respectively.1

The catechins in cocoa are long-chain polymers which exhibit strong antioxidant effects. A group of researchers from the University of South Australia studied the effects of differing doses of cocoa flavanols on pressure. 32 men and 20 postmenopausal women with mild hypertension participated in the study. The participants were divided into four groups and each group was daily given a differing dose of cocoa flavanols in a cocoa beverage. At the end of six weeks, the group that was given the highest dose of flavanols exhibited the greatest reduction in mean arterial pressure as well as 24-hour measurements of systolic and diastolic pressure.2-3

If you’re interested in offering your customers a line of antioxidant products that can efficiently support cardiovascular health, get in touch with a supplement manufacturer whose reputation is backed by an award-winning history of high-quality supplement manufacturing. Formulation, packaging and label design can make a difference and the right manufacturer can put it all together for you, resulting in increased customer loyalty to your brand!